Sealing the Daggerboard Trunk

[drift montana]

Quick question that I'm sure has many 'correct' answers. Now that my Melonseed has been flipped, I am starting to think about the interior structure. In particular, I am curious about peoples' thoughts on sealing the daggerboard trunk to the bottom of the boat. Epoxy, Sikaflex, 5200, 4200, velcro, bubblegum? This is a 13' 4" Melonseed built strip planked. Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

Cheers!

-Tony

[Ron Paro]

I agree that there are likely to be many correct answers, but here is how I did mine:
The trunk is attached to the hull by bedding it in silica-thickened epoxy and screwing in eight 1 ½" bronze screws, up through the bottom of the hull and into the trunk logs.
http://jimmyskiff.blogspot.com/2007/03/installing-furniture.html

http://bp3.blogger.com/_XuaT2XHyCMw/ReZwiD23DaI/AAAAAAAAAKE/yuZnGQWAI_w/s200/IMG_2963.JPG

[Thorne]

I went with the flexi sealant approach rather than the hard glue / epoxy method, and it seems to have worked well so far.

My theory was that the CB trunk may take a real beating at times, and I didn't want the bottom/CB joint to be too rigid. I used Vulkem116 as recommended on this forum, and it is still quite flexible after 2 years. CB case is attached to two thwarts, has #10 2.5" SB screws holding it into slot in bottom, oak posts go through the bottom planks.

http://www.luckhardt.com/cb-case5.jpg

[drift montana]

Thanks for the input, guys. I have a friend who built a similar boat and just used thickened epoxy and screws to attach the CB trunk to the keelboards. A few trips bouncing on the trailer and the stress created a tiny crack at the seal and it sprouted a little, but noticable leak. If he did it over, he would have used some sort of flexible adhesive. I had an order for expoxy into Jamestown Dist, so I added a tube of 3M 5200. Should do the trick.....

-Tony

[Woxbox]

I think you're on the right track -- just be sure that the 5200 has some thickness to it at some point. A thin film won't do the job.